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As seen in The New York Times:

LIVING HERE

Published: Friday, March 11, 2005

Houses on Quiet Water: Kayaks, Canoes and Tranquility

Stewart Cairns for The New York Times

HO Angela Petitto, 47, manager of the Adirondack Museum Store, from Saranac Lake, N.Y.

WHAT 3-bedroom house

My house was part of a great camp - country homes that were over-the-top retreats for the wealthy to vacation in the Adirondacks during the summer season. I have one of the original guest cottages, built in the late 1920's, on Osgood Pond. It's a half mile down a dirt road, right on the water. On my side of Osgood there are about 12 other homes and across from me there is only state land.

Jet Skis are not allowed on Osgood. A while back there was a town board meeting to ban these personal watercraft and there was a massive response supporting the measure. I even circulated a letter to get people to attend the meeting. I didn't have a house there at the time - I bought my place in 2001 - but I knew people who did.

In the winter I enjoy snowshoeing; in the summer, I hike. There is hiking on the Red Dot Trail and, of course, plenty of canoeing in the area. The pond is two and a half miles long and a mile wide. You can paddle right into Osgood River and see heron, loon and nesting eagles. Osgood links to Church Pond and Jones Pond, and the St. Regis Canoe Area is nearby, parts of which don't allow motorboats.

Osgood is truly tranquil even in the middle of summer. There are not a lot of houses, state land is nearby, and I have access to the river. I'll see canoes, kayaks and rowboats, but very few motorboats. In fact, there are only two or three houses on Osgood that have small motorboats, but that's it. Visitors don't bring boats with motors to the lake. It is about as motor free as you can get up here.

At Saranac Lake, when I'm in my canoe and the motorboats go by, I'm bobbing up and down. Our town in winter has 5,000 residents and is the largest "city" in the Adirondack Park. In summer, we grow to 25,000 residents, but when I go to Osgood, I'm removed from all that. I can regenerate my spirit there.

 As told to Amy Gunderson